Grain-unloading process and grain-car track construction



Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

TSHEETS-SHEET l.

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APPLICATION FlLED Nov. 22. |919.

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GRAIN UNLOADTNG PROCESS AND GRAIN CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION. 1,350,786.

H. RICHARDSGN.

GRAIN UNLOAOINC PROCESS ANO CRAIN CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED NOVI22| I9I9.

H. RICHARDSON.

GRAIN UNLOADING PROCESS AND GRAIN'CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION. APPLzcATlo-NFILED Nov. 22, 1919.

1 350,736, Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

TSHEEIS-SHEEI 3.

H. RICHARDSON. GRAIN UNLOADING PRUCESS AND GRAIN CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

I I APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22. I9I9. 1,350,736, Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

T SHEETS-SHEET 4.

H. RICHARDSON.

, GRAIN- UNLOADING PROCESS AND vGRAIN CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

, APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22| I9I9. 1,350,736, s Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

SHEETS-SHEET 5.

H( RICHARDSON. GRAIN UNLOADING PROCESS AND GRAIN CARITRACK CONSTRUCTION.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22.1919.

H. RICHARDSON.

GRAIN UNLOADING PROCESS AND GRAIN CAR TRACK CONSTRUCTION.

l APPLiCATlON FILED NOV. 22| |919. 1 350,7 3 6 Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

4 SHEETS- SHEET UNITED STATES PAT-ENT OFFICE.

HENRY RICHARDSON, OF PASSAIC, NEW' JERSEY.A

GRAIN-UNLOADING PROCESS AND GRAIN-CAR TRACK CCNSTRUCTION.

Application led November 22, 1919.

To all wibo/a 'it may Conc-cwi:

Be it known that I, HENRY RioHAnDsON, a subject ot' the King of GreatBritain, and resident ol" Passaic, State of New Jersey, United Statesor' America, have invented certain new and useful improvements inGrain-Unloading Processes and Grain-Gar Track IConstruction, and dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionot the same, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to improvements in track constructionparticularly adapted for use in yards associated with grain elevators,and the objects of the invention are to permit of a plurality of graincars being readily dumped and transferred from one line to another, sothat while loaded cars are being continuously dumped, the empty cars canbe continuously taken away without interfering with the unloading`operation. l

It is also found in the present method of unloading grain cars, that aconsiderable amount of grain is left in the car which necessitates thesweeping of the car to complete the dumping process and as the sweepingoccupies a little time it necessitates the grain car being retained onthe railway track in the position in which it was originally dumped, sothat all the grain sweepings may be discharged from the car anddelivered to the elevator.

This naturally prolongs the time of dumping or unloading the car, andprevents other cars from being bronghtA into position for unloading ordumping, until the previous car has been completely unloaded.

Yi Yfurther object of the present invention is to permit of the sweepingoperation beingaccomphshed while the car after being primarily dumped isbeing conveyed from the incoming track t0 an outgoing orV return' track.

Other objects still, 'are to permit ot the weighman on the elevator intowhich the grain is ultimately delivered being notitied when each car isbeing dumped, so that he is then enabled to check the lweight of eachcar individually, and with a rapidity which heretofore has beenimpossible.l and in this way the dumping of the cars is acceleratedresulting in a considerable saving oi. time and labor.

TWith the above and other objects in view, the invention consistsessentially of the im- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. :24, 192).

Serial No. 339,819.

proved track construction particularly described and set forth in thefollowing specilication and accompanyingr drawings torming part of thesame.

ln the drawings:

, Figures l and 1^ represent a plan view ot a track constructed inaccordance with my invention.

Figs. 2, 2^ and 2B indicate a plan view on an enlarged scale of theseveral sections of the track construction showing the means whereby theempty grain cars are transferred to a return track after being emptied..

Figs. 3, 3A and 3B represent a side elevation of the track constructionshown in Figs. 2, 2A and 2B.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section line 2-2 of Fig. 2A.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing the means whereby the grain isdelivered to the hoppers from which the elevators are filled.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of an audible means for warning theweighman on, the elevator when a car has been dumped.

Like characters of refer-ence refer to like parts in the severaliigures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a railway track which in theembodiment illustrated is formed with two sets of double lines B and Con the former ot which the grain cars H are initially positioned priorto dumping, while they are delivered Subsequently to the track C whenemptied.

Intermediate of the double tracks, a treble track is shown comprisingside tracks D and t-he center track E the former of which provides meanswhereby the grain cars are brought into position ready 'for dumping,while the center track E provides means Jfor taking the empties away.

through the Adjacent to these three setsk of tracks,l

movable tables F are mounted on a transversely extending track G andthese tables rails 16 which may be brought into alinea pivotally mountedguide plate 17 is hung, adapted to occupy the position shown in dottedand full lines in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that when the lett hand table F is moved toward theright hand side of the track B to the track C or from the track D to thetrack E, the plate 17 will swing from the position shown in full linesto that shown in dotted lines, and when the table F is at the oppositeside of the transverse track G, and is moved toward the left side, theplate 17 will swing` in the opposite direction, and lie on the oppositeangle to that shown by the dotted lines.

At the rear of this transverse track G, a plurality of tracks J arearranged in alinement with the track B, C, D and E and form a partthereof, when the tablesFare so positioned that the rails 1G are inalinement with either oli the said tracks. Below the tracks J, hoppers'7 are arranged, into which the contents of the grain car H may bedumped.

The tracks B and D are provided with hoppers 18 such as have beendescribed in my Patent No. 1,264,859, granted April 30,

19.18, so that the grain carsil-l brought along the tracks B and D arepositioned relatively to the hoppers 18 and the saidc'ars may be vtippedendwise and' sidewise to dump the contents of the car into the hopper18.

This method of dumping' the grain cars has been fully described in mypatent above referred to and need not be enlarged upon here.

The bottom of each hopper 18,`is provided with a valve 19 pivotallyconnected to the lower end of the lever 20 which is fulerumedintermediate of its length to the bracket 21 mounted on the hoppers 18,the upper end of the lever 20 being' connected through the link 9,2, toa lever 23, so that a workman superintending the unloading of the carsH, can on actuation ot the lever 28, open the valve 19 and permit the'contents ofthe hopper being dumped onthe belt conveyer .13 below thedischarge end of the said hopper.

, During this part of thej operation, the main bulk of the grain will be`discharged into the hopper 18 but a small amount of grain willstill beleft in the car and this ,f rrain must be swept out to complete thedumping of the car.

It is .important however that the car H should not be detained too longover the hoppers 18, as ity would naturally prevent the next grain carfrom being dumped and a considerable amount of time would consequentlybe lost,so that to facilitate the dumping operation the car H is nowmoved to one ot' the tables F, the rails 1G of which are in alinementVwith the track on which the grain car H is running. Y

As soon as the grain car H is positioned on the table F, a man willascend the steps 15 onto the foot board 14 and enter the grain car andcommence sweeping' out the remaining; grain in the said car. 1n themeantime the table F will be moved on the transverse track G so that therails 16 of the table F will be brought into alinement with the returntrack C.

rllhe sweepings which have been discharged from the car H will fall intothe hopper 11 and when the table has reached the position shown in Fig.4, the plate 17 will be angularly disposed and guide or deliver theremaining sweepings of the car into the hopper 11.

As these sweepingrs are discharged from the hopper 11 they are deliveredto a belt conveyor 18 and thus subsequently delivered to the grainelevator in a manner to be made clear hereafter.

W'hen the car H has been completely emptied the Vtable F will havereached the position above described and the car will now be moved, onto the return track C which permits of the empties being continuallytaken away, while loaded ,grain cars are brought forward to the hoppers18 on the track B. In this way a continuous bringing forward and takingaway of loaded and unloaded cars H will take place.

The tables F. may be constructed in any convenient manner and'braced insuch a manner as will be calculated to give the desired strength topermit of their fulfilling the functions required of them.

Should bulk head and frozen grain cars I, be brought to this track B,for dumping purposes, they are brought to that track section J, beyondthe tables F and the contents are dumped into the hopper which isprovided with a discharge valve 25 pivotally attached to the lower endof the lever 26 which-is fulcrumed to the bracket 27 on the end of thehopper', the upperend of the lever being attached through the link 28 tothe pivotally mounted lever 29 which is adapted on manual operation toactuate the said'valve.

These track sections vJ, which form the end of the track B, C, D and E,may be formed' with buffers 30 and form termini beyond which thecarscannot go and the carsI after being` dumped will be returned to thetables F and transferred to the return line C or E so that the emptiesmay be taken away.

The conveyers 13 extend to anddischarge into hoppers 31 located at thelower end ot the Vsuction conduit 3:2 through which the grain is drawnand delivered into the hoppers 33 in the usual manner common to grainelevators.

As the grain is being delivered to the hoppers 33 it is weighed, and theweighman thus determines the contents of each car which has been dumped.

It is essential that the weighman should be notiiied when each car hasbeen dumped and to this end 1 provide the lower end of the hoppe 18 withan indicating means comprising a bracket 3/-1 provided with a terminal35 which is electrically connected to a source ot electrical supply 36and with this terminal, a second terminal 37 mounted on one end of apivoted lever 38 is adapted to co-act, the terminal 37 being connectedthrough an audible warning means 39 to the source of electrical supply36.

It will be understood that the terniinalsv35 and 37 will be insulatedfrom their supporting bracket and lever 34 and 38 respectively.

As the grain in the hopper 18 passes therethrough, the weight of thegrain on the end of the lever 38 extending into the hopper will pressthesame downwardly so that the lever 38 will be rotated about itspivotal point and the terminals. 35 and 37 will become disengaged asshown in Fig. 6.

As soon as the hopper 18 has been emptied, the lever 38 will gravitateinto position shown by the dotted lines and the terminals 37 and 35 willengage closing anelectric circuit and sounding the audible means 39,located on the elevator adjacent to the weighing mechanism and thus theweighman will be notified that the hopper is emptied.

The manner in which this device is used will be better understood fromthe following description.

A grain car H is brought along the track B and after being positionedabove the hopper 18, the contents of the cars are dumped thereinto. Thevalve 19 in the hopper 18 is normally closed` and after the car has beendumped the operator superintending the unloading of the cars willactuate the lever 23 thereby opening the valve 19 permitting the grainto be delivered to the conveyer 13 from whence it is carried to thehopper 31 and delivered to the hoppers 33 of the elevator.

As the grain is being delivered to the elevator it will be weighed bythe weighman and as soon as the hopper 18 becomes emptied.v the lever 38extending into the hopper will rotate into a horizontal position so thatterminals 35 and 37 engage and close the electrical circuit sounding theaudible warning means 39 and 'notifying the weighman that the hopper isempty.

The lever Q3 is now operated to close the valve 19 prior to anothergrain car being dumped and the first grain car H is now pushed onto atable F whereupon the man enters the car H and commences to sweep outJthe grain left in the car.

As the table F is moved transversely to the track B and C on the trackGr this sweeping operation is completed and the sweepings are deliveredto the hoppers 11, the grain passing onto the conveyer 13 and beingdelivered to the hopper 31 from whence trie grain passes through conduit32 to the hoppers and the grain is weighed above the hopper in the usualmanner.

As soon as the second car H has been dumped, the weight of the grain onthe lever 38 will rotate the lever' into an angular position and breakthe circuit by disengaging the conduits 35 and 37 so that the audiblewarning means ceases and the weighman is then acquainted with the factthat another car of Yrain is being dumped, so that when the lever isagain actuated to open the valve 19 and permit the grain being deliveredto the hopper 31, the weiglunan will know that this grain isl from asecond car and will commence the weighing of the same in the usualmanner.

After the cars H have been moved on the tables F they are delivered tothe track C and taken awa to be returned to other grain elevators for t1e purpose of reiilling.

When the cars 1 are being used, they are located above the hoppers 7 andthe same operations such as has been above described is repeated. Itwill be seen that by this method of dumping grain cars, a continuouscycle of operations is performed and no time is lost with the resultthat the cars of grain are dumped quickly and successively withoutinterrugtiomso saving a considerable amount et time and also dispensingwith a great deal of labor which is at present necessary when grain earsare dumped by other practice than that described in this invention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and manyapparently widely diiiperent embodiments of my invention within thescope of the claims, constructed without departing from the spiritthereoi, it is intended that all matter contained .in the abovespecification and accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

That I claim as my invention is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described and' in combination aplurality of parallel tracks, transverse tracks set at the end of theparallel tracks and extending across the same, a transversely movabletable mounted on the transverse-track and adapted to convey a car fromone to the other of the parallel tracks, and means for collecting grainfrom the table during movement.

2. In an apparatus of the character described and in combination aplurality of parallel tracks, transverse tracks set at the end of theparallel tracks and extending across the same, a transversely movabletable mounted on the transverse track and adapted to convey a car fromone to the other of the parallel tracks, means Jfor collecting grainfrom the table during movement, said means including a plurality ofhoppers below the transverse tracks, and means for deflecting the graininto the hopper.

3. In an apparatus of the character de scribed and in combination amovable car carrying table, a plurality of hoppers below the table overwhich the table is adapted to move, delecting means carried by the tableadapted to deflect all the grain falling from the table into one hopper.

4. In an apparatus ofthe character described and in combination twograin hoppers adjacent to each other, tracks extending across the top ofthe hoppers, a table mounted on the tracks, a pivoted deflecting memberon the table extending into one of the lioppers and adapted to deflectthe grain from the table into the said hopper.

5. In an apparatus of the character described and in combination, aplurality of tracks arranged side by side, a plurality of transversetracks extending across the paralleltrack, continuation tracks on theopposite side of the transverse track, a transversely movable tablemounted on the trans` verse track, and means for collecting grain fromthe table during movement.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand'in the presence of awitness.

Y HENRY RICHARDSON.

